I am sure most experts would agree that the most difficult task in improving a BRTS (Bus Rapid Transport System) in a developing world is summarized in four words - Securing Right of Way.
My first hand experience as a pedestrian walking thru the not so new BRTS in Ahmedabad, triggers some thoughts, the most impactful and pertinent of which I share in the blog today.
As you cross the roads at signals in BRTS, you notice that the traffic policeman (usually an outsourced employee) desperately trying to live upto the performance expectations laid down in his career folder document somewhere in the world.
To inculcate the idea and more importantly the necessity of Right of Way to him would be too monumental a task but observation shows that this has not been ignored in Ahmedabad. The real world is a cruel master.
I thought that maybe when the system comes for a re-jig next time, these would be the small changes that could be proposed -
" An automated path securing the right of way for all stakeholders using the cheapest of materials."
Explanation -
The transport traffic (which mainly consists public and private transport, and ,it is always a problem of the "mix" in developing worlds) has the least priority, exceptions being granted for security reasons.
BRTS - other traffic - pedestrian intersections to be "secured" by slowly raising plastic blocks which could be as simple as the conical flourescent pieces that emerge from the "ground below her feet " as it were to ensure that internationally acceptable standards of "right of way" are implemented without human intervention.
It would be a system that is cheap to replace and the loss of employment can be contained in designing "horses for courses".
Happy Eid-Al-Adha to you.
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